Kurama Uzumaki
by Sarcasm Dragon
Summary: There's a blond haired ninja running around Konoha wearing an orange jumpsuit, but his name isn't Naruto. It's Kurama. So, then, what is it that's sealed inside him? You guessed it...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **_Naruto_ and the characters within it are the intellectual property of Masahi Kishimoto. This work of fanfiction is in no way meant to infringe on the right of the author to publish or profit from his work.

This story will borrow significantly from the Naruto manga and anime, including many plot points and certain lines of dialog in addition to the characters and setting, the first several chapters in particular will contain explicit borrowings of character lines and events.

For those of you waiting on some of my other stories, sorry, this idea just jumped at me and demanded its immediate attention. They'll be updated soon, **Believe It!**

* * *

**Kurama Uzumaki**

"Give it up!" a loud, boisterous voice shouted as a streak of orange bounded from one building to another, bouncing off and in-between at speeds that should have been impossible for a human.

"Come back here! You're going to pay for what you did!" a voice shouted after him, the sentiment echoed by several other voices.

Several figures wearing dull grey and green uniforms, all with identical faded green flak jackets leaped around in pursuit of the orange-clad figure they were pursuing. Like the boy they were chasing, for that's what the streak of orange actually was, these adults were moving at incredible speeds and with preternatural agility, turning sharp angles at high speeds and scaling buildings in series of quick leaps. Unlike the boy, however, many of the pursuers were panting and out of breath as they tried to find a better angle to intercept the blond haired prankster.

On a nearby rooftop, concealed in the shadows so well that none of those involved in the chase noticed her presence, a similarly dressed figure observed with some amusement the events from behind a porcelain mask with markings reminiscent of a bird's head. It was always funny to watch fully trained adult ninja get frustrated by a young academy student. These were village _chuunin_, the middle rank among the ninja, and the most numerous of the ninja ranks. The ninja in action today had previously proven themselves competent, able to handle all aspects of ninja duties, but had yet to prove themselves capable of more challenging tasks.

And from the looks of it, none of those chasing the boy would likely distinguish themselves any time soon. If they had that kind of skill, the boy would already have been captured. The kid was moving quickly, constantly boosting his speed with chakra, but it was still not even remotely up to the standards of a _jounin_. What was impressive, however, was just how long the boy could keep that kind of speed up. It had already been an hour, and the chuunin given the assignment of keeping the peace in the village for the day, unlucky sods, had all been called over to try and catch the boy at some point or another.

"Losers!" the kid called back, cutting back across the village, "You're all just upset that you don't have the guts to do what I do!"

Falcon grinned. Few people had the guts this kid had. She would know. She had been assigned as one of his protectors for some time now and had seen some of the things the kid had done. This most recent stunt was one of his most daring. Not particularly dangerous, but certainly provocative.

The village of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was situated behind a mountain and surrounded on all sides by a towering forest. The cliff face of the mountain had been carved to form the faces of the greatest ninja of the village, its previous and current leaders, the _Hokage_. While each of the four faces up there were respected and revered by the people, it was the fourth face, the Fourth Hokage, whose memory was most loved, for many remembered his sacrifice, and were only alive today because of him.

The Fourth Hokage had saved them from destruction at the hands of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the most powerful of the nine tailed beasts. It had cost the leader of the village his life, but the rampaging monster of chakra had been halted, and the people spared. Which was, coincidentally, the reason why Falcon was watching out for the boy in orange, the child whose life was sacrificed to hold the great demon at bay, the child whose every breath protected Konoha be keeping the demon locked up. The boy who was marked on the face with the whiskers of the beast he carried.

Just like the whisker marks the boy had painted on the face of the Fourth. Falcon had to chuckle looking up at it. But then the specially assigned ninja, the ANBU became deathly serious as the situation on the ground suddenly changed.

The boy, dressed in bright orange, had evaded his pursuers completely. It was a clever stunt, using the Replacement technique combined with a bit of camouflaging, making himself appear as part of a nearby wooden fence while the ninja ran off the other direction chasing an indistinct blur, but that left the boy unattended in a civilian area. And all of his visible minders were off looking for him.

"You stupid brad!" a burly shopkeeper growled out, carrying a thick wooden cudgel and brandishing it menacingly. "Just who do you think you are, defacing the Hokage monument like that?" A half dozen more of the civilians in the village stepped behind the first, angry looks on their faces.

Falcon tensed, prepared to intervene. These people hated the kid. Usually, they weren't so mean-spirited (or stupid) as to try to hurt the boy, but after he had just defaced the Hokage monument? Who knew what they were capable of now?

"I'm Kurama Uzumaki!" the orange clad boy shouted, fixing the civilians standing around him with a glare. "And I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

Oh, this wasn't good. As often as Kurama shouted that, this was probably the worst timing of them all.

The miniature mob was outraged. "YOU?! Hokage? How dare you—" one of the people in the mob stepped forward, drawing a long knife from his belt.

Just one more step and Falcon would have been down there. If the mob had come any closer to the boy, the ANBU would have done her duty and those civilians would have been apprehended. But, fortunately for everyone involved, they never did take that step.

Instead, it was Kurama who stepped forward, and for a moment, a brief, terrifying moment, the street below was flooded with such an intense feeling of imminent death and malice that Falcon felt her own heart grow cold. The civilians, who were much closer and at whom that killing intent was focused, literally blanched, frozen in place.

"That's right, I'm going to be Hokage," the boy with the whisker marks said, and Falcon thought she could see his eyes glowing briefly red, but couldn't be sure from this distance. "And when that happens I'm going to make you regret that attitude."

And then, like that, the flash of killer intent was gone, as was the intense expression on the face of Kurama, replaced with a wide grin. "See ya!" the boy shouted and dashed off, just as the _chuunin_ searching for him returned.

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*.*.*.*

* * *

Kurama brought the rag he was holding up to wipe the orange paint off the cheeks of the Fourth Hokage effigy, swiping at it ineffectually. Up above him, his favorite academy teacher sat watching him with a perplexed expression.

"Kurama, you're at the top of your class, top marks in every category," the teacher said with an exasperated sigh. "So, why do you continue to pull stupid pranks like this? Especially since you know that in the end you're going to have to deal with the consequences."

Kurama looked up at Iruka and shrugged his shoulders. The chuunin-teacher wouldn't understand. Sure, Iruka knew all about pulling pranks and acting like a class clown to get attention. But that wasn't why Kurama pulled his pranks. Honestly, he wasn't completely sure if it was actually him who was doing it all, or if it were due to his…tenant.

So, he made up an excuse he thought the man would find plausible. "Because it's fun! And who else has ever done something like this, huh?"

**Oh come on, your pranks are completely derivative, Kurama.** The voice in his mind complained. **And you dare to claim they're original? You totally stole it straight from me!**

_Shut up, you can't compare your childish graffiti to my exquisite art._ Kurama retorted. _There are depths and layers of meaning to what I did, while you were just a petty vandal._

**Pfft. If I were just a petty vandal, then why are you emulating me?**

_I said shut up_. Kurama growled back. He didn't like it when his "tenant" was right, at least not when they argued.

"Look, Kurama, you're about to graduate. You've put off becoming a full ninja as long as the academy will allow. Either you take the exam tomorrow, or you'll be dropped from the program. And that means it's time for you to grow up and stop doing childish things like this, okay? Once you get the Leaf headband you'll be responsible for your actions. A stunt like this when you're a _genin_ will get you arrested, not given detention, you got it?"

Kurama had no intention of failing the genin exam. Or of getting arrested. He had plans. Big plans, and that included becoming the Hokage one day, and soon. But he needed to be a genin, the lowest ninja rank, before he could make any of that happen.

"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei. This was kind of my grand finale, a last big one before I stop harassing the villagers with my pranks."

Iruka watched as Kurama scrubbed at the whisker marks some more. At the rate he was going it was going to take all night every night for a week. The teacher sighed. Poor kid, acting out to get attention, the young academy instructor thought to himself.

"Um, Kurama, one question. Why whiskers? And why on the Fourth? You know that making the Fourth look like the fox he killed by was certain piss a lot of people off, right? So, why do it?"

Kurama smiled. Why whiskers? Few people in the world knew enough of what happened twelve years before to really get the whole picture and appreciate his prank on every level. He certainly wasn't going to explain it all to Iruka; the shock would probably cause the chuunin to fall to his death, which would be a pity. So, he went with the obvious answer, only slightly hinting at one of the hidden meanings behind the act. "Cause one day, that's going to be my face up there! This whole village is going to see me and know me for who I am and acknowledge me. That's just a preview. And the Fourth looks the most like me, don't you think?"

**Oh, I get it. Not bad, Kurama. But you were still copying me.**

_Whatever_. Kurama thought back, with a smirk. _Don't pretend like you've figured out why I really did it, other than to piss off this stupid village._

**Hey!**

"Hey, Kurama? What's say after you get done cleaning up, I treat you to some ramen? You know, the good stuff?"

"Really?" Kurama called back with wide, eager eyes. "Alright! Now that's some serious motivation!" And with an inward smirk, Kurama formed a handseal. "_Kurama Pranking Paint: Release!_" The orange coloring disappeared from the face of the statue in a large puff of smoke. All of it. Instantly.

**So that's why you mixed your chakra in with the paint! So you could release it and not have to scrub it all off! And now we'll get that ramen without having to do all the work! I wish I had thought of that!**

_And that, is the difference between me and you._

**Well, that and the fact that you're a complete jerk.**

_Oh, then you won't want me to share the experience of enjoying the ramen with you this time?_

**Oh, no, nevermind! You're totally cool, Kurama, the best!**

_I thought so._

**How about you just go ahead and release me from the seal, then eh?**

_Not a chance, Naruto, not a chance,_ Kurama smirked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Kurama sat in the middle row of the Konoha Academy upper year classroom, arms folded over the chair in front of him. Of all the things he loathed about his life, this was by far the worst. Sitting around listening to lectures that were either pointless to him or far beneath his level of knowledge was almost aggravating enough for him to just forget his plan and leave the ridiculous ninja village behind. There were a few things holding him back from that course of action, though, and one of them was standing in the row right in front of him.

"You and me, Uzumaki! We'll settle it once and for all today," the boy with fierce black eyes glared at him, his nose just inches away.

Kurama gave a snort, not moving an inch despite the close proximity. "There's nothing to settle, Sasuke," he answered with a lazy drawl. "You're second best, and always will be."

"Not after today, _Uzumaki_," the dark haired boy said, enunciating the clan name as if it were distasteful. "After today I'm going to prove that the Uchiha clan is the best in Konoha. Once I beat you, everyone will see it."

"Hn," was the only reply the blond haired ninja gave.

While outwardly Kurama's expression was passively neutral, giving no indication of any sort of emotion at all, inwardly he was smirking. He couldn't help but feel the smug satisfaction that came from turning Sasuke Uchiha's "cool" attitude back at him. But the emotions were a lot more complex than that, with a lot more warmth for the boy than he would ever care to show—or feel.

Kurama sighed to himself. The things he had to endure. He cast his mind inward. _Naruto, could you stop with your Sasuke fixation for half a second? All this gushy, mushiness is going to make me gag._

**It's called friendship, Kurama, and I can't help it, and wouldn't want to even if I could. So, quit complaining! Oh, and look out.** The voice in his mind answered back.

The warning came a half second before Kurama sensed it himself. Malicious intent. Kiba Inuzuka, third strongest fighter in the class, had a jealous streak a mile wide and an ingrained instinct to fight for the right to be recognized as the alpha male of the group, and he wasn't above using underhanded tactics to undermine the top two fighters in the class. A number of spectators, many of them girls in the class, had gathered around to watch the confrontation between Kurama and Sasuke, forming a ring around them in the seats. With a not so subtle shove, one of the nameless civilians was sent stumbling backward to bump into Sasuke from behind, whose lips were just inches from Kurama's own.

_**SMOOOCH!**_

Eyes wide, an utterly shocked Sasuke Uchiha found his lips mashed up against another boy, whose eyes were equally opened in surprise. The two boys froze in that moment, while the crowd gasped. Then, the two boys quickly turned their heads and began spitting to the side as if their lives depended on it. A couple rows down, Kurama threw his head back and laughed uproariously.

"Serves you right, Kiba!" the blond haired ninja in the orange jumpsuit laughed and pointed. "Sasuke, I'd say I was sorry to you for that, but…it's just too funny!"

"KIBA!" the loud screeching voice of Sakura Haruno yelled. "You took Sasuke-kun's first kiss?!" The pink haired _kunoichi_ pulled the sleeves of her dress back to prepare her fist for furious action. A dozen other females stood around fuming as well, glaring murderously at the still sputtering Kiba. Back down by Kurama, Kiba's white little dog/ninja partner, Akamaru, began to whine piteously in anticipation of the upcoming beat down.

"Oh, Kurama-kun!" a blond haired girl quickly sidled up to him, hearts literally swimming in her eyes. "That was so clever and skillful! You're the best!" Ino Yamanaka draped one arm around Kurama's neck.

Kurama froze for a second, a stricken look on his face. At least it wasn't a murderous one, though his thoughts _were_ silently screaming. _What makes these women think they can put their hands all over me? How dare they?_

**Hehe. Now you know how I felt. But Ino's not that bad, she just recognizes what an awesome ninja I am. Er…we are.**

_Hardly. She's just a silly girl. But I will tolerate her touch for your sake. Otherwise, the girl would have found herself flattened for her continued insolence._

"Eh, hehe, it was nothing, Ino," Kurama carefully extricated himself from the offending arm, while scratching the back of his own head absentmindedly, a fake smile plastered on his face. As he disengaged from Ino's affections, Kurama glanced over towards the back of the room, noting with a sigh that Hinata Hyuga was, as usual, staring at him surreptitiously.

"Ahem," came a loud voice from the doorway. All the students looked over to notice the class instructor, Iruka, standing in the doorway. The students all quickly took their seats, though Kiba and Sasuke continued to throw glares at Kurama, still smarted at having been "out-foxed." Iruka was followed into the room by the white-haired junior instructor, Mizuki.

Kurama felt his hackles raise for a moment before calming himself. He'd put up with the man for four years already, one more day wouldn't be too much to manage.

"Well, that was a fine display of advanced skill in the replacement technique. Kurama, you're excused from the _kawarimi_ practical and will receive full marks for the technique later in the day," Iruka began. "Which is a lesson to all of you—"

"But, sensei!" Sakura spoke up. "Kurama abused the technique! He used it to force Sasuke-kun to kiss Kiba! He shouldn't be rewarded for that!" _**That's right, CHA!**_ The voice in her mind echoed.

"If Sasuke were that good, he should have avoided the situation himself," Kurama remarked.

"Kurama-kun is right," Iruka said. "Ninja must always be aware of their surroundings. Sasuke and Kiba were perfectly capable of preventing this from ever happening. Kiba could have countered the kawarimi attempt and there were many ways for Sasuke to have avoided the…unfortunate incident. Their lack of situational awareness cost them both."

"But—" Sakura began to protest further.

"Just give over, Sakura. You're just upset that I hadn't chosen to switch with you," Kurama said with a smirk and to the laughter of the rest of the class. Sakura's face went flush, very much the color of the flower of her namesake. After a hesitation, Kurama added, "As much as I'm sure it would have been more enjoyable for everyone if I had picked you, I don't think Sasuke would ever forgive me. Much less any of your rivals."

Sakura and Sasuke both glanced over towards the blond in surprise at that comment. Sasuke was considering just how much worse it would have been if he had ended up kissing one of his rabidly fanatic fangirls, Sakura chief among them, while Sakura was having conflicting feelings over Kurama's backhanded compliment.

Sakura bit her lip. She had to admit, while Kurama could say some cutting things, he had never really gone out of his way to pick on her or put her down. In fact, if she thought about it, the boy had been kind of nice to her at times. It had been her who had started insulting him because he was Sauske's rival, the one Sasuke had sworn to surpass. She looked over at her blond classmate seeing the hint of kindness on his face. Maybe…

And then the moment passed, and Kurama settled back into his chair and scowled while Iruka began passing out the written test. Sakura sighed and turned her attention back to Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

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* * *

Outside in the Academy training field, the entire class was busy hurling shuriken and kunai at a number of stationary targets with bull's-eyes clearly marked with red and white concentric circles. Iruka and Mizuki walked along behind each student, noting their progress. Most of the students were doing a little worse than he would hope, hitting somewhere on the target 90% of the time, but few were managing to strike the center circle with any of their throws. Still, it would be enough to graduate if their other skills were up to Konoha standards. Those that had the potential to become real field shinobi could improve their throwing techniques later on, while the rest would likely become administrative ninja or take up some civilian occupation.

Sasuke Uchiha, on the other hand, was already highly skilled at the throwing arts. He hadn't hit the dead center of the circle every time, off by an inch or two to each side on most throws, but the kid was already deadly with sharp, pointed metal objects. Give the kid six shuriken and six civilian targets, and there'd be six dead targets before they could blink. Well, at least if they were stationary. Still, that was about as good as the typical ninja ever got, and the last Uchiha would only improve from here.

"Sasuke Uchiha, full marks!" Iruka proudly called out for everyone to hear.

Sasuke basked in the moment of triumph, a hint of a smile playing around the edges of his mouth. He'd practiced hard, Iruka could tell, pushing himself to improve on what was already a remarkable achievement considering the current Academy training regimen, and his unfortunate family situation.

"Kurama Uzumaki, full marks!" came Mizuki's voice.

Iruka noted the satisfied smile vanish from his other student's eyes and lips. But then after a moment, the smile returned, though not as wide as it had been.

"Guess we're tied, huh Kurama?" Sasuke called out to his classmate and rival.

"Yeah, guess so," Kurama's cheerful voice called back.

Of all his students, Kurama was the hardest for Iruka to figure out. On the surface, the boy appeared to be a happy-go-lucky cut-up, taking few things seriously, and laughing off persecution and insults from all directions that would have made most children cry their eyes out. Yet, there were deeper currents and hints that the cheerful smiles he beamed in the face of mistreatment was a façade, masking a carefully controlled temper that seemed to flare up for the strangest of reasons.

Despite the contradictions Iruka had noticed and despite the fact that he had at one time felt some animosity towards the boy for what he contained, namely the killer of his parents, Iruka had really come to love the kid in his own way. It was after the Third Hokage had pulled the instructor aside and explained some things about his student that Iruka had given Kurama a chance, and he was very glad he had. Since then, the boy had displayed a surprising affection for him, and had really grown on Iruka.

The fact that Kurama was one of those rare prodigies when it came to the ninja skills made it easier to stomach the boy's frequent pranks and jokes. His academic scores left a lot to be desired, though. He wasn't quite at the bottom of the class, but he lacked pretty much any motivation at all to prepare for exams on ninja history or protocol as well as a number of other subjects. At least the boy was attentive whenever any discussion of the ninja arts came up; that was what was keeping his head above water when it came to tests.

On practical application, however, Iruka was convinced Kurama could have passed those tests before he even entered the Academy. Iruka took a look over at Kurama's targets out of curiosity. Upon seeing the results, he froze in place. It was as Mizuki had said, full marks, every shuriken and every kunai were either dead center or just a few centimeters off. It wasn't the precision that surprised Iruka, it was the fact that each weapon was buried deep into the wooden targets. Most of the students could barely get the blunted practice weapons to stick into the boards, much less get any kind of penetration with them. Kurama's ninja stars were all embedded halfway into the wood if not further, and one of the kunai had penetrated the target all the way to the hilt.

Definitely a prodigy.

* * *

*.*.*.*

* * *

"Begin!" Mizuki shouted, and Kurama watched as the ginger haired kid from a civilian family, eh, whats-his-face, charged towards Shikamaru Nara to try and score some points in the taijutsu skills test. Shikamaru was not particularly gifted at hand-to-hand combat, Naras in general were known for their tactical approach to fighting rather than for their physical talents, but Kurama knew better than to sell his classmate short.

Shikamaru was from the Nara clan, one of the ninja clans that had been part of the founding of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and had held their own in the time before that when it was every clan for themselves. You don't survive that long in a situation like that without having better than average fighting skills, even if you spent all your time trying to keep things as simple for yourself as possible. Sometimes, the easiest solution was just to put a kunai to the other guy's throat.

Shikamaru's stance was loose, apathetic looking, but that was part of what made it so effective. As "ginger" charged in trying to connect, Shikamaru took a lazy looking step back, causing his opponent to miss and come up off-balance. That was when Shikamaru struck, using very basic, but very efficient moves to knock his opponent down. To anyone who wasn't watching carefully, it had seemed that Shikamaru had gotten lucky and that his opponent tripped himself up rather than that Shikamaru displayed real skill. Kurama knew better. Shikamaru wasn't an expert, but he was definitely competent.

"Next up, Kurama Uzumaki, currently first place in the class _taijutsu_ rankings, versus Kiba Inuzuka, currently third in the rankings," Mizuki called out.

"Wait, sensei," Sasuke spoke up, "it should be me versus Kurama! I'm second in the class!"

"Sorry, Sasuke, Iruka made the pairings, and I can't change them without his say so," Mizuki answered with a plastic, apologetic smile on his face. When Sasuke reluctantly went back to his place in line, is face a mask of dark fury, the junior instructor continued. "Combatants ready…Begin!"

**Don't hurt Kiba too** **badly. **The voice in his head called out to him.

"Come on, Akamaru! Let's get him!" Kiba shouted and charged forward, his white puppy struggling to keep up beside him.

There was a sudden blur of motion, followed by a quick yelp of pain. The puppy had been knocked through the dirt and was lying there whimpering.

_You didn't say anything about the dog._

**Akamaru! You—you kicked a dog?! A puppy?! Why?!**

_Because now the fight with that Kiba boy might actually be interesting for once. Besides, he was the one who brought the little mutt into the fight, not me. Did you expect me to just let the little mongrel nip at my heels?_

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled, his expression flashing between concern for his partner and intense anger towards Kurama. "You're going to pay for that!" Kiba charged in furiously, putting his full strength into his attack, not holding back as he normally would against another Konoha nin. Kiba attacked viciously, jumping in with hands transformed into claws to swipe at his opponent, somersaulting over his shorter classmate attempting to get a good attack angle. Each attack was empowered by raw anger and emotion, the sound of Akamaru's pain spurring him on. It was the best _taijutsu_ the Inuzuka boy had ever displayed.

But it was futile.

Kurama had never lost a spar, and was not about to let an Inuzuka clan ninja change that; it would be far too humiliating. The blond haired boy ducked under a rushing charge to knee Kiba in the stomach, the dark haired boy's painted face showing the pain of the blow, and then it was Kurama who was leaping into the air and striking out like a wild animal. Kiba was sent skidding over the ground to lie beside his puppy. They'd both be alright, not even needing to go to the hospital, but they were both going to be sore for a few days where Kurama had kicked them.

It was over within twenty seconds, but it was the most intensive action Kurama had seen since entering Konoha's Academy. Was it worth kicking a dog for just 20 seconds of action? Absolutely. Kurama loathed dogs on principle, and Kiba was the one who had brought a dog to a ninja fight. Getting a better fight out of the Inuzuka was just a bonus.

* * *

*.*.*.*

* * *

"Alright," Iruka called out, back in the classroom. "This is the final test. When I call your name, replace yourself with one of the objects in the middle of the floor," the chuunin instructor gestured, indicating an assortment of wooden logs, stones, and practice dummies. "After that, you will need to create at least 3 functional clones, and then, finally, use the transformation technique to disguise yourself as someone or something else. You will be judged both on the technique and on the quality of the disguise, so get the details right! You have five minutes to complete all three techniques once your name is called."

With the instructions given, Iruka began calling out names, and one by one each of them performed the techniques. Those that succeeded were issued an official Konoha ninja headband.

Kurama noted the large amount of chakra smoke most of the students created in executing the three techniques, with few exceptions—even Sakura producing far more chakra smoke than necessary during her transformation. Shikamaru produced half the amount of chakra smoke as the others, for each of his techniques, and surprisingly, Ino Yamanaka also managed the tasks with noticeably less chakra smoke as well. Sasuke, the last before Kurama, produced even thicker smoke than most others, his larger than average Uchiha chakra supply combining with his thirst to prove himself to create even more wasted chakra.

Two students from civilian families were able to complete the first two techniques after a few tries, but ran out of chakra for the third and didn't have enough left over for a transformation. They were sent out without a headband. The only ninja from one of Konoha's established ninja clans that had any trouble was Hinata Hyuga, who faltered a couple times, her eyes straying to look at Kurama with some anxiety, but she still completed the techniques with plenty of time to spare.

"Kurama Uzumaki," Iruka called out. "You have already passed the replacement technique portion of the exam, so there will be no need for you to perform that technique again. But you will need to create at least three clones and perform a transformation—and NOTHING CUTE this time!" Iruka yelled with an illusionary gigantic head for emphasis. "You had better take this part of the test seriously! This had better be the MOST IMPRESSIVE transformation you have ever done, and it had BETTER NOT BE OF ME!"

"Most impressive transformation I've ever done, eh?" the genin-hopeful asked, now standing just a couple feet away from Iruka, having replaced himself with a nearby log. He had done so without creating even a trace of smoke. "Are you sure about that, Iruka-sensei?"

Considering that Kurama had previously turned into _Female!Iruka_, _BunnyRabbit!Iruka_, _Chibi!Iruka_, _Naked!Iruka_, and _Smurf!Iruka_ at different times in the class, nobody could really blame the instructor for his reaction. Of course, this only served to egg the blond haired ninja on.

Nine clones of Kurama flickered into existence with only small wisps of chakra smoke to indicate the use of the clone technique. The clones quickly spread out, taking up attack positions all around Iruka and Mizuki and charging the pair before winking out of existence once more just before their illusory bodies would have struck where they were standing. The two instructors would likely never realize just how difficult it was for someone with so much chakra to use so little in a technique as Kurama just had. Had they known, they would have been more very impressed.

But since they didn't, he was going to have to do something special. The blond haired ninja's face took on an evil-looking, foxy expression.

**Kurama...what are you thinking?**

_I'm going to do exactly what Iruka said, perform the most serious, most impressive transformation that we have ever done._

**I dunno...I don't think he'll like my Sexy Technique, Kurama.**

_Don't be stupid, Naruto, if you can help it. Of course I won't be doing that ridiculous transformation of yours. But I will actually be copying you this time, so you should appreciate that I'm giving you a little credit for this one. Remember that time you and that over-sized frog were battling the Shukaku?_

**Hey, don't disrespect Boss Gamabunta! Yeah I sort of remem…OH…NO….**

"Transformation Technique!" Kurama called out, putting his hands in the cross sign. A huge amount of chakra smoke filled the classroom, obscuring everyone's vision for just a moment.

And then a monstrous, hellish-red colored beast leaped forward out of the dissipating cloud, its angular jaws snapping towards the instructors, nine large tails rising up out of the smoke. Its red eyes and razor sharp teeth bore down on Iruka and Mizuki as a feeling of doom and hate filled the room.

It was the Nine Tailed Demon fox. The Kyuubi.

Kurama.

* * *

.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I told some readers that I would explain some things about what's going on this chapter, but I wasn't expecting the Academy part to run this long. Sorry, I'll get to that next time.


	3. Chapter 3

"Transformation Technique!" Kurama called out, putting his hands in the cross sign. A huge amount of chakra smoke filled the classroom, obscuring everyone's vision for just a moment.

And then a monstrous, hellish-red colored beast leaped forward out of the dissipating cloud, its angular jaws snapping towards the instructors, nine large tails rising up out of the smoke. Its red eyes and razor sharp teeth bore down on Iruka and Mizuki as a feeling of doom and hate filled the room.

It was the Nine Tailed Demon fox. The Kyuubi.

Kurama.

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**Chapter 3**

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Those who could bolt from the room, did. Those who could not, screamed, cowered, or some combination of the two. The two chuunin instructors fared little better than their students, scrambling back away from the apparition of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

And then, with a puff of smoke, the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_ was gone, and all that was left was Kurama Uzumaki, doubled over laughing at the reactions of everyone in the room. "Oh, man! You should see yourselves! This is priceless!"

There was a moment of stunned silence, save for the blond-haired ninja's hysterics, when all the teachers and students in the room stared dumbfounded at Kurama. It was Iruka who was the first to recover. The instructor sucked in his breath.

"**KURAMA! DO NOT EVER DO THAT TRANSFORMATION AGAIN!**" the chuunin instructor shouted, his face truly livid.

"Oh come on, Iruka," Kurma laughed. "I know the transformation technically wasn't perfect cause it was too small to _really_ be the Nine Tailed Fox cause I was inside and all, but it _was_ to scale. And don't pretend you didn't believe it. You almost wet yourself."

"That's not the point!" Iruka screamed again. "Don't ever use that transformation again, Kurama, not under any circumstances!"

Kurama locked eyes with his teacher, the smile on his face replaced with a steely frown. "You can't tell me that there aren't tactical situations where this transformation technique won't come in handy. Are you saying that even if lives were on the line, like my future teammates, and I needed something to draw all attention to me, that you wouldn't approve of this?"

Iruka spluttered for a second and then was silent at this unexpectedly logical point.

"You did tell me to give you my most serious transformation, sensei. Can you think of something more serious than that?"

The instructor stared hard at Kurama for several seconds. Then he strode over to the blond haired boy, his adult height towering over the barely teenaged student. Then, grimly, Iruka held out a Konoha ninja headband to the boy. "I know you wanted to impress me, Kurama, but what you did there was overkill. Don't ever use that transformation in the village, not for any reason short of saving the Hokage himself, and not out in the field either unless you are trying to save more than just your team. Got it?"

Kurama took the headband from his teacher, whose face had become ashen after the anger drained out of him. Kurama gave the man a nod.

*.*.*.*

**YOU BASTARD!**

The voice in his head was not very pleased with him. Kurama chuckled again to himself. Yeah, it was perverse to get enjoyment from another's frustration, but there was a reason he was the way he was.

_Something the matter, Naruto?_

**Yeah, you stinking, lousy jerk, HINATA saw that!**

_Oh, yes, the Hyuuga girl you care so much about. So what of it?_

**She was one of the students waiting around to see what I would do, as were Sakura and Sasuke. She ran out of the classroom frightened out of her mind, you jackass!**

_And why should I—_

"Kurama," a familiar, and wholly unwelcome voice called out, interrupting the inner-dialog.

"Mizuki-sensei," Kurama answered, looking up with a fake smile spread over his face at the hated white-haired traitor. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at one of the graduation parties with the other graduates?"

Faking that he was hiding bitterness at not being invited to a graduation party was a very good cover for hiding the genuine resentment he felt for the traitor. Mizuki, of course, totally missed it.

"You know, Iruka only came down on you after that last stunt because he cares about you. Despite how mad you made him, he really is trying to look out for your welfare."

Kurama played along with the teacher's pretense of comforting him. "Well, sometimes he has a strange way of showing it," Kurama sniffed. "I was just trying to show how well he's taught us all these years. Oh, yeah, and you too, Mizuki-sensei," he added almost as an afterthought.

"Please," Mizuki threw up his hands in mock-protest. "All I did was assist Iruka. He's the one who did the teaching and you are the one doing all the hard training. But I'm proud of you, too, which is why I'm happy that I'm the one who gets to tell you about it."

Kurama looked up with his interest only half-feigned. "Tell me about what?"

"The special assignment." Mizuki said with a broad smile that was as fake as the chuunin instructor himself. "Every year, the class rookie-of-the-year is given a secret special mission to test all of the abilities he has learned during the Academy. If you succeed, you'll prove how good your skills are to the Hokage."

The blond haired ninja grinned wide. "Wow, so cool!"

**Hey, Kurama, you can't possibly be falling for this!**

"This will be a difficult task, Kurama. You can't get caught or you'll fail. It will test all your shinobi skills to the maximum. You will need to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals from the Hokage's office and bring it back to me to demonstrate that you can learn an A-Rank forbidden jutsu."

"A-Rank?" Kurama's eyes were wide as saucers. "So cool!"

"It will be difficult, but if you can succeed, you'll be promoted to chuunin immediately, completely skipping the genin rank. You'll join a new team as your jounin instructor's second-in-command instead of just another new rookie student."

**Kurama, he's lying to you! Don't believe him! There's no such thing as this—**

_Of course I know that, idiot. But nobody else knows that we know. This will play to our advantage. After we succeed here, we will be able to openly use techniques from the scroll, including your beloved shadow clone technique._

Mizuki pulled out a folder with the "mission" details.

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* * *

For the average genin graduate, merely entering the Hokage tower without their jounin instructor with them would be impossible. A typical chuunin would be caught within seconds of attempting to sneak into a restricted area. A typical jounin could potentially sneak through the less secure levels of the tower, but would almost certainly be caught the moment they entered the ANBU controlled floors surrounding the Hokage's office. Only one of the truly elite had a chance of getting past the security on the building.

Kurama Uzumaki was just waved on through all the lower floors and was completely ignored by even the ANBU, until he got to the office itself, where the ANBU on duty were away from their posts. Kurama was fairly sure he knew how Mizuki had arranged it, but it would bear further investigation once this was finished.

Entering the locked office should have been impossible for the newly-minted genin, but Kurama had a few abilities not even the Hokage was aware of. All he needed was a slight crack between the joint of the door and the frame and he had a unique way of getting in. A thin tendril of chakra poured out from his body, snaking through the crack, into the room on the other side where it thickened, forming into a pair of chakra hands. The two reddish hands quickly made the sign of a cross and a shadow clone of Kurama poofed into existence inside of the sealed office, where it found the unlocked vault.

From there, getting the scroll out was easy. The Hokage's office had a window that opened out to the village. It was defended by seals against shinobi other than a trusted few entering, but was not protected against anyone leaving that way. Getting the scroll out _undetected_ was virtually impossible. Once out of the building, Kurama's ANBU minders would certainly take up pursuit.

But Kurama had already accounted for that. His perfectly executed escape plan had Kurama deep within one of Konoha's vast forested training grounds where the boy could peruse the Scroll of Seals he had stolen, while the team of ANBU found themselves chasing a vanishing clone.

The scroll contained a large number of dangerous techniques, some incredibly powerful, others less so. Along with the Shadow Clone Technique and its big brother, the Mass Shadow Clone Technique, there were many other _kinjutsu_, including the Eight Trigrams Sealing formula as well as notes on the Impure World Resurrection technique created by the Second Hokage.

A large number of the techniques were forbidden because of the cost to the user to execute, quite often ending up costing the life of the ninja. Other times it would cost them their sanity. An entirely different class of techniques would require the lives of others, sometimes multiple sacrifices, all to accomplish a task that was not natural for chakra. Others were too unstable to work reliably without a significant risk.

Kurama would never use any of the darker techniques included in the scroll, which were clearly a perversion of what ninjutsu was originally intended for. The Sage of the Six Paths had taught humanity the ninja arts to help them help themselves, not to show them new ways to do unspeakable things to one another. Fortunately, while there were many dark techniques, there were a few others, such as the shadow clone technique which were forbidden primarily because it could damage the user, but could be safely used by those with necessary skill or chakra capacity. It was this class of technique which Kurama quickly studies, along with the Eight Tri-grams sealing technique.

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* * *

Iruka spotted the blond haired ninja dressed in that ridiculous orange jumpstuit just sitting out in the open, the forbidden Scroll of Seals unfurled in front of him. Had the boy been running or attempting to hide, Iruka probably would not have alerted him, and simply have bound the boy with a barrier technique that should have held him until ANBU could arrive. But he wanted to understand.

"Kurama!" Iruka called out.

"Oh, hi, Iruka-sensei! So, you found me already, huh?" The boy's face lit up with a smile that was completely incongruous with his situation, before turning into a thoughtful frown. "But I thought I was supposed to meet Mizuki-sensei to complete the mission."

Iruka noted the slightly puzzled expression on his young student's face, but knew Kurama was gifted at pretending to be less aware than he let on. What was Kurama playing at? "What mission, Kurama? You stole the Scroll of Forbidden Seals from the Hokage office! Do you know how much trouble you're in?"

"It's all right, sensei, Mizuki told me all about the special rookie of the year mission! I know I got caught getting out of the tower, but that was actually a part of my diversion. And I've had enough time to learn a technique from the scroll!"

"Kurama, what are you talking about? There's no—get down!" Iruka broke off in mis-sentence to tackle the boy away from an incoming barrage of shuriken.

Or try to. By the time Iruka reached where the boy was, Kurama had already vanished, along with the scroll of seals. Iruka avoided most of the deadly ninja stars, but failed to evade one, the sharp edged metal tearing a nasty gash along the back of his leg. It would slow him, but not significantly.

"Very impressive, Kurama!" a voice called out from the trees above. "Apparently, it seems you've actually even been holding back at the Academy."

"Mizuke-sensei, Iruka-sensei, what's going on?" Kurama asked, standing off to the side, next to one of the large trees in the area. The scroll was held protectively in his hands. So, the boy _was_ innocent, as he had hoped.

"Kurama! Don't let Mizuki get that scroll! There is no special mission! He's a traitor to the village!" It should have come as a shock that Mizuki was the traitor Konoha Intel expected had infiltrated the Academy, but the Hokage had asked him to keep an eye on his assistant. It wasn't hard to see that Kurama was being used.

"Don't be fooled, Kurama," Mizuki sneered from the trees. "Iruka is just trying to make you fail this test. He can't stand the idea that you'll be promoted so quickly. If he can get you to abandon your mission before you give me the scroll, you'll fail."

Kurama looked between Iruka and Mizuki, appearing torn. "If that's true, then why did you throw those shuriken at me?"

"This is all part of your test, Kurama, but you've passed that as well. Once you had me the scroll it will all be over," Mizuki called back.

"Don't listen to him! That's scroll is full of village secrets! Think about it, Kurama! Do you think the Hokage would let any genin use any of the techniques in that scroll? Those are forbidden techniques for a reason!"

"You can't believe a word Iruka says now, Kurama," Mizuki retorted. "He'd do anything to stop you, both because it's his job to be your last obstacle and because he doesn't think the village should trust you." Mizuki paused for a second before deciding to add another dimension to his mind game. "He knows that you're the one who killed his parents."

Kurama stiffened.

"There's a reason people in the village hate you, you know," Mizuki taunted. "All those cold stares…all the whispers behind your back. And Iruka has reason to hate you more than any of them."

Frantically, Iruka waved up at the ninja with the long white hair up in the trees above, his assistant teacher for the past year. This was one of those moments of no return. He wasn't too attached to Mizuki, but up to this point the traitorous spy had the option to back out and voluntarily turn his sources to Konoha's intelligence unit. But if he told this S-ranked secret, there would be no going back. "Don't do it, Mizuki! It's forbidden!"

"Don't tell me what?" Kurama called back.

"There's a law in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a law about you." Mizuki paused, teasing out the moment. It was cruelty. Whatever affection for the students the chuunin with long white hair had shown, it had been a fabrication, Iruka now knew. "It's a secret everyone knows except you. The law that says nobody can tell you that Kurama Uzumaki is really the Nine Tailed Demon Fox!"

"No!" Iruka cried out in protest. Kurama turned his head at that instant to see the look of anguish on Iruka's face.

Which was the moment Mizuki had been waiting for. With a swift, practiced motion, the traitorous ninja sent a massive windmill shuriken speeding straight down towards Kurama. The mass of the weapon would surely impale the unprotected genin, and with surprise on his side, there would be no chance the boy would dodge.

Iruka didn't hesitate. With a burst of chakra, he sped to intercept the attack, interposing himself between the incoming weapon and his student. He hoped his chuunin flak jacket would be enough to stop the weapon from damaging his spine—if not, he would be giving his life for his student, not a bad way to go.

The Fuma shuriken struck with the sickening sound of metal piercing flesh, and for a brief moment it appeared as if Iruka had sacrificed himself to shield his young student from the attack. Then a mass of chakra smoke dispelled and Iruka appeared where the blond haired ninja was and the young ninja in the orange suit was the one shielding his teacher, the large Fuma shuriken sticking directly into the swirling blue whirlpool symbol on the back of his orange jumpsuit.

Iruka Umino was an average-looking ninja from Konoha, with black hair, a fair complexion, and a slender physique. His most distinguishing features were the scar that ran across the chuunin's nose, and the enduring kindness in his eyes. At this moment, though, the chuunin's eyes were wide, and filled with tears.

"Why?" he mouthed, asking the boy in front of him why he would swap places with him just as he was trying to save him.

"Because," the whisker-faced boy said with his last breaths, holding himself together for just a moment longer through sheer willpower. "I'm a shadow clone."

And then there was a second puff of smoke as the copy of the boy in orange dispelled, and the oversized weapon piercing his back fell to the ground with a thud.

* * *

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* * *

**Seriously, Kurama, I don't get why you had to let things play out like this. We could have ended this the second Mizuki showed up and all of your objectives in playing along with Mizuki's plot would have been fulfilled.**

_Idiot, you still understand nothing._

**Oh? Then enlighten me.**

_I did it for your teacher. Few people ever impress me, but on the day your Iruka-sensei sacrificed himself for you in the manner he just did again, he became worthy of my interest. To rob him of that chance would have been a shame._

**Yeah, but he'd already done it before, so we already knew Iruka was like that. He's already our precious person. And besides, you spoiled it by using the Replacement technique anyway.**

_It was the choice that made the man noble, brat, not the outcome._

**Well, anyway, just go ahead and kick that traitor's ass.**

_At last, something we can agree on._

"I think that clears up which of you is the enemy here, Mizuki-teme!" Kurama growled. "Now, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"You think you can handle me, Kurama?" Mizuki yelled down from where he was perched on the branch of a tree. "I'll obliterate you in a single blow!"

"Try it! I'll throw it back at you a thousand-fold!" Kurama yelled out before forming the cross seal with his hands. "**MASS SHADOW CLONE TECHNIQUE!**"

The forest was filled with hundreds of copies of Kurama, each dressed in the bright orange track suit with its blue trim and whirlpool symbol on the back. Mizuki's eyes went wide in disbelief, turning around in circles as taunts were flung at him from all directions. Kurama was everywhere. And then the shadow clones dove towards the traitor from all directions.

"Unbelievable," Iruka muttered, watching the spectacle. "You really did learn a technique from that scroll!"

The young genin favored his teacher with a foxy grin. "Well, that takes care of—" Kurama froze mid-sentence as the first memories of his shadow clones being dispelled came back to him.

"Kurama, look out!" Iruka called, just as a blur exploded between them. The two dodged apart just in time to prevent themselves from being eviscerated by a pair of hands that had elongated into claws, reminiscent of an Inuzuka. Mizuki now stood between Kurama and Iruka, his look radically changed from just moments before. Where the assistant instructor had been as thin as Iruka, his arms, legs and chest now bulged with muscles. His Konoha forehead protector had slipped off in the scuffle with the now decimated shadow clones, revealing a dark black staggered arrow mark on his head, and what looked like back tiger stripes on his face and biceps. Curse marks.

"Mizuki…what is this?" Iruka gasped out, looking at his former teaching partner in horror.

"**I expected the boy to be tough considering he was our top student**" Mizuki chuckled, his voice far deeper and animalistic than before. "**But I would never have thought he could pull off something like that. Good thing I got that extra boost before I took this assignment.**"

"Assignment?" Iruka asked. "Who are you working for? Why are you doing this?"

"**With this power, it doesn't matter who Konoha sends to stop me!**" Mizuki crowed, flexing his muscles. The partially transformed shinobi stared over at his former partner, "**I hadn't counted on you being here, Iruka, but it makes no difference. I'll kill you first, and then the brat.**"

_Naruto…this is going to be difficult. _Kurama thought inwardly. This would be the greatest test he had faced since...well, this lifetime.

The voice inside him chuckled back, amused. **Mizuki took one of Orochimaru's cursed seals already, huh? Well that sucks. Good luck with the fight, Kurama!**

Kurama growled. So, that's how it was going to be? Well, he would show his "tenant" that he could take care of things without any help. Before the tiger striped chuunin could reach Iruka, Kurama was already between them, a burst of chakra allowing him to move momentarily as fast as the body flicker technique. "I won't let you lay a hand on my sensei!" Kurama growled out, holding a kunai at the ready.

"**Like you can stop me!**" Mizuki laughed, virtually flying forward to clash with Kurama, knocking the much smaller boy backwards with the force of the blow.

Kurama scowled fiercely. Attempting to block that directly had been foolish. The beast he faced outweighed him several times over and was striking with blows empowered with cursed chakra. He couldn't just hold his ground against this opponent. Fighting like this, he would lose.

Before Kurama could get back into the fight, Iruka was sent flying, crashing into the ground and his head striking the trunk of a tree after a second bounce. Kurama watched as the chuunin instructor slumped to the ground, senseless.

Kurama roared, then charged back in, slashing at Mizuki with his kunai, feet flying up to follow the attack with skillful kicks. But the bigger man was just too fast and agile, easily blocking the blows.

"**Why even fight me, Kurama-kun**," Mizuki taunted, a grin on his face. "**It's not like anyone in the village cares for you. Everyone thinks you're just the monster that killed their family. Everyone in Konoha thinks that you are the Nine-Tailed Fox.**"

Mizuki charged forward, and the two clashed, their kunai meeting between each other in a locked parry, both struggling against each other, trying to push each other back or off balance. But now it was Kurama who was grinning.

"You know, Miuzki, that's true. Most of the villagers do think that I'm that murderous Nine Tailed Fox. A monster. And you know what?"

To the Mizuki's surprise, he found his attempt to overpower his student failed. And then he was looking into red-slit eyes. Kurama's entire visage had changed. Now the boy had long canines, his whiskers had elongated and thickened, and a reddish chakra had come boiling out to envelope his skin.

"**They're right!**" the Kyuubi jinchuriki growled with a deep, demonic voice.

With a vicious swipe of his own clawed hands, Kurama tore a rip in Mizuki's vest, but the transformed older ninja had wisely disengaged, the force of Kurama's pressure knocking Mizuki backwards. Kurama charged forward on all fours with a burst of speed that Mizuki found even his cursed tiger form unable to match.

"**Foolish mortal, you thought you could challenge the power of the Kyuubi? You thought you were a match for my strength?**" Kurama bore a fist into Mizuki's stomach, launching him through the air, before outrunning the falling chuunin to kick him into, and through a pair of trees a dozen yards away. "**You and your master are pitiful ants next to my power! I will tear you both apart!**"

Despite the boast, Kurama was at best twice as fast and strong as his opponent right now, and Kurama knew it. He would need to end things quickly. Against a lesser foe, an attack like that would have ended things, but Mizuki was no longer an average opponent. Kurama charged forward, prepared to take out his opponent with his razor-sharp claws.

Mizuki stood and spit out pieces of wood from the tree he had crashed into. Then _he_ roared. "**CURSED SEAL, LEVEL TWO!**" Before Kurama's eyes, Mizuki transformed once more, this time his entire body taking on the coloring of a tiger, his face transforming into the shape of the beast. A sickening purple energy twisted about Mizuki's form and the man met Kurama's charge with a furious punch.

And then it was Mizuki who was on the offensive, pounding Kurama into the ground. The tiger-man's speed and strength had multiplied ten times over, and the blond haired jinchuriki found himself outmatched for the second time in the battle. Again and again the tiger-transformed monster that had been his instructor pummeled him.

"**IS THAT ALL THE POWER YOU HAVE, NINE TAILED FOX?! IS THAT THE MIGHT OF THE** **KYUUBI**?" Mizuki demanded as he picked grabbed the still struggling blond haired ninja up with one hand.** "IT IS NOTHING TO ME!**" With that, the cursed ninja smashed a fist directly into Kurama's face, sending him flying back towards his downed teacher.

Kurama stood up, panting, looking with hatred at the transformed visage his former instructor. The reddish chakra flowing around him weakened and wavered. This was not going well.

_Brat, I need a bit of chakra._

**What was that?**

_I said, I need a bit of chakra. Don't make me repeat myself._

**I'll think about it.**

_Brat!_

And then the battle was rejoined as Mizuki had charged back to keep up the attack, Kurama doing his best to dodge the incoming strikes from his larger, stronger opponent. After a few seconds of trading blows, Mizuki struck hard into the boy's block, forcing both of Kurama's arms up into the air, before jumping up kicking forwards at the blong haired boy's gut, but a hand of pure chakra emerged to absorb the impact. Kurama used his extra chakra appendages to change direction in mid-air, reach around to grasp at Mizuki's arms and disrupt his opponents strikes. When the brutish ninja's powerful arms broke free and swiped at Kurama's unprotected side he used his chakra arms to absorb the blow, and prevent himself from taking damage against the power of the cursed seal. But it was a losing battle.

_If you don't give me your chakra, I will run out, and we will BOTH die._

**What, are you too weak to handle a little human on your own?**

_This is not the time for games, Naruto._

**If I recall things, you said something along those lines to me more than once. Remember?  
**

And then Mizuki knocked Kurama flat on the ground and landed a blow to his gut. The reddish chakra sputtered and died out. Mizuki kicked Kurama across the open ground and then began striding over towards him.

Kurama watched the approaching enemy with a snarl on his face. He was losing, and hated it. But he would not beg the boy, it was beneath him to do so. He would need some way to stall and recover his chakra, some way to change the boy's mind.

"I thought you said you would kill Iruka first," Kurama growled, but his voice was weak, once more the voice of a young boy. It was a pathetic taunt. "Can't get anything right, can you?" But it worked.

"I'm not an idiot. Do you think I'm going to just let you alone to get your chakra back?" Mizuki scoffed. Then the man casually grabbed a boulder and lobbed it backwards towards the prone form of Iruka Umino. "I'm not someone you can trick."

Kurama grinned. "I just did," the blond haired boy answered with a sly grin.

* * *

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* * *

The forest disappeared. In its place, there was a large, dank sewer filled with water. Behind a huge gate stood a giant, a man as tall as a mountain, his body bright and luminous as a flaming star. Upon his forehead was the symbol of the Leaf Village, while dark comma marks adorned his shoulders and collar, a swirl of black spreading out from his navel, branching out to his extremities. He was fire. He was light.

He was Naruto Uzumaki, Second Sage of the Six Paths.

And he was locked up.

Just outside the massive gate, tiny in comparison to the large human, was a fox kit. It was small, cute, and fuzzy. Cute though it was, its eyes were ancient and a mischievousness bordering on malice twinkled in its eyes. Nine tiny fox tails trailed behind the diminutive creature.

"_Well, Naruto?_" the little fox kit spoke to the towering giant on the other side of the gate. "_Are you going to share your chakra now, or does Iruka die?_"

"**You bastard fox**," the brilliant glowing soul bound behind the great gate growled out. "**I thought you said you respected Iruka.**"

"_I do, though I am sure that the bulk of this 'affection' I feel for the man comes from your side of the seal. Still, if you will just lend me your chakra, I will settle this and your teacher will be spared._"

"**Whatever, you know I'd have given it to you eventually anyway. No way in hell I'd let Mizuki get away with betraying the village. This way it just doesn't appear like you're begging off me, which is the thing you can't stand.**"

"_Just send me the chakra already, Naruto. We don't have time for this ridiculous contest of wills. I know you won't let me die, not at least until your village is safe, and you know I will not release that seal holding your soul captive within me. Until…well, until I feel like it._"

"**Yeah, yeah. But it doesn't matter if you actually beg for the chakra or not. You still need it to win this fight. Admit it. And you used to complain about me wasting chakra! Man, you're almost as bad as I was back when I was a genin!**"

Kurama snorted, his vulpine jaws drawing up in a disgusted scowl that only looked even more adorable on its young features. "_I don't think anyone was as bad as you were back then, brat. But I will admit…it is not as easy to fight with such…limitations. Perhaps some of my complaints about you back then were…somewhat unfair._"

Naruto, standing behind the great sealed gate smiled broadly. "**There you go, wasn't so hard to admit it was tough being me. Fighting is a heck of a lot easier when you're twenty storey tall juggernaut Tailed Beast, isn't it? Not exactly grovelling, but it'll do. So, now that we've cleared that up, you go save Iruka and kick Mizuki's ass!**"

"_YES_!" Kurama exulted.

Suddenly, the sewer water was bathed in golden light, and a tide of purity flowed out in a wave from Naruto, displacing the dankness of the sewer. The golden chakra poured over the miniature nine-tailed beast, and its red eyes suddenly glowed golden in response as the sewer fell away and the forest outside Konoha came rushing back.

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* * *

Mizuki stood in front of the downed genin, the claws from his tiger hand extended towards the blond. In a moment, the boy would be dead and he would be free to retrieve the scroll from wherever the boy had hidden it.

There was a flash of yellow light and the boy was gone.

The sound of a boulder being crushed made Mizuki whip around to where Kurama stood, now fifty yards away straddling Iruka, his fist in the air surrounded by the fine cloud of dust that was all that was left of the massive rock Mizuki had just hurled earlier. Mizuki's eyes opened wide. This was impossible! Kurama's entire body was bathed in glowing yellow-white fire, and eyes that had gone from blue to red, were now filled with an almost holy light. What was this?

"_**You made a big mistake attacking Iruka, Mizuki. Glare at us. Spit at us. Whisper your hate about us. Even attack us, and we might be merciful. But try to lay one finger on our sensei…and we'll kill you!**_"

Mizuki managed to take half a step before the furious golden boy put a fist through his chest, and where that fist punctured the dark energy of Orochimaru's cursed seal burned away. Mizuki never felt the second punch that sent his body twelve feet under the ground.

Kurama headed back towards Iruka. He could still sense his sensei's life strongly, so he wasn't afraid. Now he just needed to come up with some kind of story to cover this up. And he needed to make up for his stunt earlier.

Kurama hmpfed to himself. It wasn't easy being Kurama Uzumaki.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"…Team Seven will be Kiba Inuzuka, kunoichi of the year, Hinata Hyuuga, and rookie of the year, Kurama Uzumaki. Your jounin sensei will be—"

Irurka was interrupted in his announcement of team assignments as a shinobi entered the classroom, handed the chuunin instructor a piece of paper, and whispered in his ear. A look of anger passed over Iruka's face, and he shot the man who had whispered to him a dark look before turning back to the rest of the class.

"My apologies. There has been a last minute change in the team assignments. _Team_ _Eight_ will consist of Kiba, Hinata, and Shino Aburame under instructor Kurenai Yuuhi. Kurama, you're still Team Seven, but your teammates will be Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha."

Kurama gave a small frown. His keen ears had caught the whispered words from the Hyuuga clan messenger. _"Hiashi-sama will not have his daughter on the same team as that boy, and the Hokage has agreed to a rearrangement of teams."_ The ninja had whispered. While such prejudice normally wouldn't bother Kurama, the relieved look on Hinata's face at the change in teams was troubling. Kurama didn't really care what the girl thought.

But Naruto did.

It wasn't precisely Kurama's fault the Hyuuga girl's feelings were so different than before. But then again, in a way, it was. And of all the people precious to Naruto whose loss could hurt, this dark haired, lavender eyed girl was perhaps the most painful one possible. She had believed in him before even Iruka. She had loved him and stood behind him before Naruto even knew her name.

And now she feared him.

_Well, Naruto, we won't have the chance to work with Hinata as you had hoped._

**Yeah, but at least we'll be able to deal with Sasuke and Sakura. Maybe we can work things out with Hinata later. But now that we're officially ninja again, we can do something about—**

_Ah, but you are forgetting, Naruto, that you are stuck inside the seal and I am the one who will be doing the things that I want to do. You just get to watch._

**You bastard! You're going to be that way again?! You wouldn't dare!**

Kurama smirked inwardly as he muffled the voice that was still yelling within his mind. Naruto had long ago earned his respect, but he still had a long way to go before he earned the demon fox's sympathy. Just because he had come to willingly cooperate with his former jailor didn't mean that now that the tables were reversed that he would follow along with what his _prisoner_ wanted.

Kurama had his own plans.

* * *

*.*.*.*

* * *

"Why don't you go first, sensei?" Sakura suggested, shooting a nervous smile towards her new teacher. She wanted to make the best second impression she could—after Kurama had already ruined their first one with a childish prank.

Kakashi critically examined the three genin he had been assigned to teach. The silver haired jounin instructor was dressed in standard Konoha navy blue combat fatigues with an olive green flack jacket worn over the top. However, unlike most other ninja in the village not currently in ANBU, he wore a mask. Kakashi's face was covered with a navy blue facemask from his left ear, up over his nose all the way over to the right ear. Even more peculiar was the leaf headband, or hitai-ate, which slanted oddly over the shinobi's left eye, obscuring it completely.

Kakashi wasn't overly impressed yet, but he would give these kids a chance. He took in the pink haired civilian girl, Sakura, with a glance. That one would need a lot of work before she would be worth anything in the field. The Uchiha boy, the reason he had been asked to take the team in the first place, was playing things cool, but surreptitiously was eying the third member of the group. Sasuke, despite his attempt at hiding his demeanor was an open book; he would be easy to motivate. The third one, however, Kurama, was an enigma, and was both a welcome late addition to his potential team roster and a major pain in the butt.

So, how to go about this? Relaxed, or hardass?...for this group, the latter was probably best.

"I am Kakashi Hatake. There are some things I like, and other things I violently dislike. You figuring out the difference between the two will be fun…for me. As for my dream...well, survive past puberty and you might get an idea of that. Oh, and I have few hobbies. Your turn. Blondie?"

Kurama looked at the copy-ninja in front of him with his arms crossed and rolled his eyes. "You already know my name, Kakashi-_sensei_, as do both of my teammates, so referring to us by our hair color is disrespectful. I guess you could count that as one of my dislikes, but I will save the rest of my introduction for last. Let 'Pinkie' go first."

Sakura's mouth opened and closed like a fish, her eyes flashing furiously. He says referring to them by their hair color was rude, and then calls her Pinkie?! She would pound him! _**Shannaro!**_

Kakashi watched the interaction coolly, his visible eye crinkling into a false smile. Kurama was intentionally distancing himself from his female teammate while at the same time negotiating power with him. Interesting. He had seen Kurama's cheerful, playful mask enough to know this was not how he usually handled things, but had glimpsed this darker undercurrent before. It seemed the boy was taking this moment seriously. Good.

"Okay then, _Sakura_, please introduce yourself." Kakashi held out one hand to forestall the protest. "While Kurama-kun is right, I most certainly do know your names and a lot more besides, it is only _polite_ to let people introduce themselves and give their proper family names. And I don't mind if Kurama wants to save his introduction for last. I'm curious what he has prepared to impress us."

After a couple more seconds of fuming at a nonchalant Kurama, Sakura nodded to her instructor. "Okay, I'm Sakura Haruno, of the Haruno merchant family. I like clothes, flowers and…" she shot a pointed glance over towards Sasuke Uchiha, her cheeks blushing. "I dislike idiots like Kurama who think they're so cool when they're really not," she glared over at the blond haired boy, who only smirked in return. "My dream is…" another look, straight at her dark haired teammate, this time accompanied with a slight giggle. "And my hobby…" again another look to the Uchiha boy.

Kakashi had a hard time keeping from rolling his good eye. That one would need more work than he had initially thought. "Okay, your turn Sasuke."

Sasuke was a "handsome" boy by young girl standards. He had an unblemished face, his features well formed and perfectly symmetrical. His irises were pure black, while his dark hair spiked over his ninja headband like waves parting before his face. He also had a chip on his shoulder the size of the Hokage Monument. Yes, this emotionally challenged boy was irresistible to young girls just learning about the wonders of love and love-like emotions.

But he was an utter pain in the rear to adults who lived lives where such superficial crap was worthless at best and a distraction that could get someone killed at worst.

"My name…" the boy actually paused dramatically before continuing, "is Uchiha Sasuke. I like training. I dislike many things." At this, Sasuke looked pointedly at the pink haired girl hanging on his every word. Then he continued. "My hobby is training to get stronger so that I can fulfill my dreams…no fulfill my ambition. And my ambition is to get strong enough to redeem my clan, defeat my rival," at this the boy looked over at Kurama and locked gazes with him briefly, "and…prove to everyone that my brother is not a murderer or a traitor."

There was a pause while the young Uchiha's stated purpose hung in the air, the solemn vow of a young adolescent ringing with steel and determination far beyond his years. Kakashi's "smiling eye" took on a serious expression. Then he looked over expectantly towards Kurama.

* * *

**We'll help him. Tell him we'll help him, Kurama.**

_I will do no such thing, Naruto or are you already forgetting our last conversation?_

**Damn it, you jerk fox, you owe me this! When I gave you my power back then, you let me down, and because of that, Sasuke lost his family AGAIN when we could have stopped it.**

_I never promised I would use the power you gave me to save that accursed clan. The Uchiha Massacre was the best thing that has happened in this world in a thousand years. I was quite content to allow it to occur as it had originally. You should be grateful, brat, that I chose to intervene in the manner that I did._

**All right, you bastard, maybe having that many sharingan around, that many potential Madara Uchiha's, isn't such a good thing. But Sasuke was my friend. You know how he'll turn out in the end, and if we help him it will only be better.**

_Sure, Naruto, I can go along with you on the issue of your Uchiha boyfriend, but I see no reason to interfere with Itachi's eventual demise. Your Sasuke-kun will get a pair of shiny new eyes out of the deal, anyway, will he not?_

**You know Sasuke couldn't care less about taking his brother's eyes. And he's NOT my boyfriend, you jerk fox! **

Kurama chuckled to himself.

**But think about this: We're going to have to face Madara sooner or later, most likely sooner unless I miss my guess, and when that time comes, do you want to have the only pair of eyes able to control you in the hands of an enemy? Or would it sound better to have someone out there who can break us out from Madara's control if things go pear shaped like they always do?**

* * *

The long silence while Team Seven waited for Kurama to speak up stretched on for an uncomfortably long time before the young ninja finally spoke up, but not to introduce himself as expected.

"I'll help you, Sasuke," Kurama said quietly. There was another moment of silence, this one in disbelief.

"What?" Sasuke managed to ask.

"I said," Kurama repeated, louder, "I'll help you. When it comes time for you to prove your brother's innocence, I'll go with you. We'll bring your brother back to Konoha and make everyone acknowledge him as a hero instead of a traitor."

The three other present ninja were stunned. When Sasuke finally recovered, his eyes searching the boy across from him for any trace of mockery or deceit, he managed to ask, "Why?"

At this Kurama stood up with a wide, foxy grin. "Because we're a team now. Team Seven. And that's what teammates do for each other, even if those teammates are stuck-up, second place bastards." Kurama saw the Uchiha boy's fist clench for a moment, but that annoyed reaction was quickly gone. "Besides, I believe. I didn't know your brother as well as you did, but I don't believe he betrayed Konoha and murdered innocent people. So, I'll help you. Besides, when I become Hokage, it'll be good to have the Uchiha clan's support."

And then emotions that had never before been there flickered to life in Sasuke's eyes. Gratitude. Kakashi could see it there. The boy who was given everything and couldn't care less was now being given something he'd never expected by his Academy rival, something worth more than anything he'd ever received before. There was actually a bond forming there that could be the kernel that would turn into solid teamwork.

"And I'll help you too, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura piped up, enthusiastic about the idea.

Annoyance found its way back onto Sasuke's face. "Hn. Like you could actually help me," he snorted.

Kakashi groaned inwardly. Well, that certainly would throw a wrench in the team dynamics.

"Hey!" Kurama spoke up. "Don't sell Sakura short." Once again the other members of the team were surprised by the orange-wearing ninja's unexpected comment. "Sure, she's pretty pathetic right now," he said, "caring more about her looks than trying to learn to be a strong kunoichi." Sakura didn't know whether to cry, attack Kurama, or run and hide. "But I know she'll be amazing one day. You'll see. She'll stop trying to make herself look good on the outside and work hard at being strong on the inside, and then she'll be someone you'll want to have our backs."

Now Sakura didn't know whether she wanted to hit Kurama, or hug him. Did Kurama really mean that?

"You're talking about Sakura, Kurama," Sasuke said as he pointed to the girl dressed in a cherry red outfit. "She's been gushing after me for three years."

"Hey, I didn't say you had to make babies with her, Sasuke, just that she could help us out," Kurama said scratching the back of his head. "But, I guess she wouldn't be bad as a potential mate for restoring your clan."

Kakashi tried to hold his smirk in, and succeeding, though his visible eye had gone comically wide with surprise. This has been a very unexpected outcome to the simple introductions he had planned. Sasuke and Sakura looked completely mortified, but at the same time it was clear that the bonds of friendship were forming with them already. They were looking at each other as not just three random students thrown together, but as people they could eventually rely upon.

Did he really need to have a teamwork exercise after hearing this? He could just pass them and start getting to work right away…

Nah. The bell test was tradition. But at least Kakashi had good hopes that this team would actually pass.

"Well, that was all very…interesting. So…"

"Excuse me, Kakashi-sensei," Kurama butted in, still standing on the edge of the Academy building's roof. "But I haven't had my chance to introduce myself yet."

Kakashi shrugged. A third introduction at this point was bound to be anti-climatic after all of that, but he wouldn't begrudge his young student the opportunity, not after having single-handedly created the camaraderie that would likely see this team succeed.

Kurama wore a serious expression as he started his introduction. "I'm Kurama Uzumaki. As I said, I dislike those who are rude or impolite to their betters. I hate the idiotic fools who screw this world up. I hate how power is only ever used to destroy and never build and create. I hate smallness, weakness, and being trapped," Kurama's voice almost became a growl as he spoke this last bit.

"But I like and admire those who never give up, who can grow beyond their chains, and strive to end the misery of this world with strong conviction. I like those who think of the good of others more than just themselves," Kurama said, and all eyes were on him in rapt attention. These were moving, noble words.

"And, I guess I have to say I like ramen and the color orange."

**I knew you'd agree with me. Ramen is the food of the gods!**

Kurama continued with a foxy grin. "My hobbies are pranking people, beating up weak idiots, and terrorizing the unrighteous. My goal is to become strong enough to help my precious people, help Sasuke with achieve his ambition, become Hokage, bring true peace to the world, and show everyone the _true_ me."

Kakashi had to admit, that was a pretty good introduction. More than a little overambitious, but it was certainly determined. "Well that was—"

"Oh, one more thing," Kurama added as if it were an afterthought. "I'm the _jinchuuriki_ of the Nine-Tailed Fox."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

"Ah, Kakashi, _almost_ on time," Hiruzen Sarutobi acknowledged as the jounin entered the office a full ten minutes after the rest. "Fortunately, I just finished covering the matter of granting assignment preference with the rest of the jounin instructors, so we can get on with the genin team tests immediately."

Kakashi sighed as he leaned up against one of the walls of the Hokage's office near the back of the group. That meant his team would be getting the dregs of the mission assignments for their first couple weeks of missions, and possibly longer if Kakashi turned up late again for assignments. There was a price to pay for his obstinate tribute to his departed teammate, the reigning prince of tardiness and excuses. But, he was more than willing for his students to pay that price.

"Team One?" the Hokage queried.

"Fail."

"Team Two?"

"Fail," came the reply of the jounin who had been assigned to them.

One by one, teams one through six were called, all but one declaring that their prospective team had been failed. Team four, which consisted entirely of students from civilian families, had surprisingly gotten a pass from their instructor. During peace time, few Academy students not from established ninja clans made it all the way through the Academy, and even fewer made it onto a rookie team without at least one clan ninja anchoring them. This year, the clan ninja were heavily stacked together with the Yamanaka/Nara/Akimichi triangle monopolizing three of the clan kids and the Inuzuka and Aburame clans being joined by Hinata Hyuuga to account for more than half of the clan kids in their year, so it was surprising that Team Four actually made it through.

"Team Seven?"

"Pass," Kakashi answered lazily, not even looking up from where he was reading the adult literature he enjoyed.

There was a short moment of stunned silence. Kakashi had not passed a team in three years of being chosen as a prospective instructor. Those who knew him best believed that while he could potentially be a great teacher, his heart wasn't in it. Those in the know had expected that the Hokage would be forced to intervene and force Kakashi to pass the obviously talented rookies.

The rest of the instructors announced their decisions without any surprises. Teams Eight and Ten were stacked with the children of clan ninja. Team Nine was still in use from the previous year. Teams eleven and twelve had failed.

The remainder of the meeting was a consultation with the students' previous teacher, Iruka Umino, and initial training ideas for each team. Surprisingly, when it came time for Team Seven's consultation, the Hokage skipped over them, explaining that he would discuss them later. When the meeting ended and the various teachers were dismissed, Kakashi was asked to remain behind. The masked ninja was a little surprised that the Academy instructor was also asked to stay behind.

"Well, Kakashi, I am pleased to hear that Team Seven passed," the Hokage said with a kindly smile once the others instructors had departed. "I must admit that I am curious about the manner in which your team passed."

Kakashi gave the village leader an indulging look, his one visible eye crinkling into a visibly pleased crescent shape. "They beat me."

Sarutobi showed a slight degree of surprise. Iruka gaped openly.

"Would you mind elaborating on that a little Kakashi-kun?" Hiruzen asked.

"Actually, I would mind, as it is a little embarrassing, but you are the village leader so," the silver haired jonin said with a sigh, "I guess I can't really say no." Kakashi put his fist beneath his chin, striking a pensive pose. "Let me see how to put this…they performed almost perfectly. If I didn't know better, I would suspect they've been through the bell test before."

"The bell test?" Iruka asked.

"It's something of a tradition, passed down from student to student," Hiruzen explained. "I learned it from my teacher, and taught it to my student, who passed it on to Kakashi's sensei."

Iruka's eyes went wide. That lineage encompassed the three of the four Hokage and the _Sannin_. That was quite the legacy. It was no wonder Kakashi's previous teams had all failed!

"The attempt to divide them seemed to work at first, I had managed to isolate Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno and disable them after getting a good measure of their abilities. The Uchiha was surprisingly competent for his age. But, it seems I underestimated them."

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked.

"They seemed to anticipate that this was what I would do and had their third member held in reserve to assist them. I was made aware that Kurama Uzumaki could use the shadow clone technique, but the skill with which he uses it is surprising, more like a veteran shinobi than a rookie graduate. Kurama dispatched his clones to rescue his teammates as soon as I had taken them out.

"That alone probably would have been enough to pass them, considering their overall skills and talent," Kakashi continued, "but my team didn't take any chances. They displayed remarkable team tactics when they came after me to get the bells, as well."

Sarutobi took a puff on his pipe. "How close did they come?"

"Well," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Let me put it to you this way: those bells that Minato-sensei gave to me are now sitting on his son's dresser next to our new team picture."

"They got the bells from you?" Iruka exclaimed.

Kakashi nodded. "I had thought I was just facing Kurama and about a dozen of his shadow clones, but I was completely surprised when one of them fired a Grand Fireball at me from short range. The worst part was, I never noticed it when the bells were taken. I was certain I knew where each one of them and the clones were at all times, but somehow…Kurama ended up with both of the bells."

The Hokage and Iruka looked at each other meaningfully.

"I take it this does not come as too much of a surprise?" Kakashi asked.

"You passed them because of their performance, not just teammwork?" Iruka asked.

"Well, actually, I wanted to play with their heads a bit first, let them think one of them had to be sent back to the Academy…"

"Ah, so that's why there are only two bells," Iruka muttered. "What a sadistic test."

"But even there they passed with flying colors. Kurama tossed the bells to his teammates and basically dared me to send him back to the Academy. When the other two tried to take the kunai for him, Kurama outright told them I wouldn't dare send him back to the Academy when they had already shown they would be a good team and he was top in his class and buddies with the Hokage."

Hiruzen chuckled. "Ah, there's that Uzumaki charm. If there's one thing Kurama-kun has plenty of, it's confidence in himself."

"Not to mention chakra reserves," Iruka added.

"Oh?" Kakashi looked at the Academy instructor with interest. "You have some additional information for me on that detail?"

Iruka looked to the Hokage, who gave him a nod.

"I'm sure you read in his updated report that Kurama was involved in an incident marked as an A-rank secret, involving the traitor, Mizuki." Iruka waited to get Kakashi's confirming nod before continuing. "What isn't in the report were the skills and power Kurama displayed in defeating him."

"Kurama took out a chuunin?" Kakashi asked, his visible eyebrow raised. "Not you?"

"To be honest, Kakashi, I don't think I would really stand a chance against Kurama."

"Oh?" Kakashi's visible eye widened, expressing mild surprise. He had been impressed with his new genin, but hardly thought an experienced chuunin like Iruka would believe himself outclassed.

"I watched him make what must have been several hundred shadow clones. They totally overwhelmed Mizuki at first. And, Kurama was fast, much faster and stronger than he let on at the Academy."

"Unfortunately, Iruka-kun wasn't able to witness the rest of the encounter, as he was knocked unconscious, and a very large chakra release managed to disrupt my scrying technique. From Iruka's account before he was knocked out, it seems Mizuki received a significant power boost from…Orochimaru."

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask. "How did Kurama defeat him, then? I can believe a talented rookie might be able to beat a chuunin, but if Mizuki became as powerful as you are suggesting…"

"Yes," Hiruzen said, puffing on his pipe. "That was my thought as well. The power needed to disrupt my viewing would need to be massive indeed. No genin, no matter how talented, should have been able to handle that kind of power."

"What did Kurama say in his debriefing?" Kakashi asked.

"According to young Uzumaki, Mizuki destroyed himself when he attempted to use too much of the curse seal's power."

"Plausible, but…"

"But, we suspect there is something Kurama is leaving out. We believe he tapped into the power of the Nine Tails during that confrontation," the Hokage said. "For now, we do not doubt that Kurama's loyalty to the village, but if he is using the power of the beast, it could be dangerous for the village. You will need to watch him carefully."

Kakashi nodded. "That boy is just full of surprises."

* * *

*.*.*.*

* * *

Kurama Uzumaki was smiling. It wasn't a bright smile or a natural smile. It was a fake smile that showed too many teeth. A smile that said he really wanted to kill someone but was trying really, really hard to make it look like he didn't. Kurama was ankle deep in mud, pulling out weeds from a garden, while be glared at by their client.

Inside the blond ninja's mind, the blazing figure of Naruto watched in amusement from behind the barred cage of the seal.

_This is intolerable! How dare they force me to do such…such menial labor!_

**Look at the all-mighty Kyuubi no Yoko pulling weeds in the mud. Ah, the joy of D-ranks. Better you than me, Furry.**

"You better do a good job," an older man, the glaring client, grumbled. "Pull every single weed from my yard, or I will report you to the Hokage!"

_If I did not need to maintain my ninja status to obtain my goals I would rip that man's face off for his insolence._

**Now come on, Kurama, these missions build teamwork and character! Think of it as spiritual training.**

_You, shut-up. You are enjoying this far too much. And look at my teammates! Sakura is barely doing any work at all, and the Uchiha is so afraid of getting his clothes soiled he is barely working!_

Naruto simply smirked from within his cage.

Kurama quickly ducked his head, a small object flying over his head at a quick speed.

"Ow!" Sakura yelped, rubbing her head as she felt a sting on her scalp. The pink haired young kunoichi glared over towards her teacher, who was slouching against the fence that enclosed the grounds they were working, one of the ninja instructor's hands holding a familiar orange book, the other holding a rock, which the jounin nonchalantly tossed up in the air and caught repeatedly. "You hit me with a rock!"

Sasuke was rubbing his shoulder, glaring at their teacher who didn't respond to either of them.

A minute passed by, then another, before Kurama had to dodge to the side as another rock passed by.

"Kakashi-sensei! What the hell?!" Sakura grumbled.

Kurama turned to see that both of his teammates were rubbing their heads. Neither had yet to catch on.

"Why are you throwing rocks at us, sensei?" Sakura demanded, her expression contorting in anger.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" Kakashi asked innocently.

Sakura stomped over towards their teacher with her fist raised. "I asked why you were throwing rocks at us!"

"Oh, because I'm training you." In a flash, Kakashi was standing directly in front of the irate kunoichi. Sakura's ire quickly turned to fear when the silver-haired ninja appeared right in front of her and poked her head where the rock had hit her. "And you," he said with a light tone, "are dead. Sasuke has wounded left arm and right leg, Only Kurama managed to avoid the attacks both times."

Sasuke rubbed his leg with a grunt. He had almost dodged that one, but considering how much Kakashi had held back on the throw, it was still not good enough. If that had been the person who had killed his clan instead of their lazy teacher, he would have been dead. The Uchiha glared at his rival, who had been just as busy working as him yet had still managed to get out of the way in time.

Sakura took a step back, her eyes widened. "But…we're in Konoha. On a D-ranked mission. We're not in danger here. So why would we…"

Kurama interrupted with a snort. "Which is _why_ Kakashi-sensei is throwing rocks at us. You can learn to be prepared so that when enemy ninja throw shuriken and kunai at us later, you'll be prepared to dodge them. And a ninja should always be prepared. There could always be an infiltrator in the village, just waiting to strike. They could even be wearing a Leaf-headband."

"Very good, Kurama-kun," Kakashi said with a feigned eye-smile. "But, then, would you like to explain to me why it is that you let me kill your two teammates?"

The false smile on Kurama's face fell. For just a second, the young blond ninja's face became a mask of fury and his fists clenched at his sides.

**Oooh, look. The Great Nine Tailed Fox failed a test from a lowly human.**

_Shut up! I could have deflected those rocks had I wanted to. Don't forget who you are talking to!_

**Yeah, you could have. But you didn't. Face it, Kurama. You failed. FAAIIILLLED! I thought you told me not to worry, that you would protect those precious to me?**

_Those were just rocks. There was no real threat. If any of your teammates were in any real danger I would have saved them, Naruto. You have my word on that._

**Yeah, and I'm glad of that, Fuzzball, but that doesn't change the fact that you didn't pass Kakashi-sensei's situational awareness testing. You were supposed to treat it as if it were real and protect your team.**

Then the mask of rage was gone and the young ninja bowed his head, his fists unclenched. A few drops of blood fell down from them. "I will do better next time, sensei," the ninja said in a tone so determined that there could be no doubt it was the truth.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

* * *

*.*.*.*

* * *

An old grizzled man stepped through the gates of Konoha with visible relief. He wiped his brow beneath the tack-shaped straw he wore for travelling. For the first time since he set out on his dangerous journey, the man knew he was safe.

"Purpose for visiting the Hidden Leaf Village?" one of the bored-looking pair of gate guards asked.

"I want to hire a team of ninja for protection."

"Name?" Izumo, the guard with a shock of long brown hair hanging from under a blue cap over his right eye asked in a tone that betrayed how oft repeated the routine was for him.

"Tazuna."

"Occupation?"

"Bridge-builder," Tazuna answered, a touch of pride entering his tone.

"Place of origin?"

"Wave Country," came the final answer.

With that the other gate guard, Kotetsu, handed the bridge builder a small, stamped paper. "This document will allow you to stay within the city for up to a week. Present it to the clerk at the administrative tower—the tall red dome-shaped building with the _kanji_ for fire on it—and you'll be assigned a team to carry out your mission. Directions to reputable guest lodgings can be found on the back of the paper."

Tazuna gave a hmph, reading the paper as he walked away from the guards. As a civilian, it was no surprise that he failed to notice the subtle scan for _genjutsu_, or the invisible chakra seals that were written into the document he carried. The pair of shinobi gate guards were bored, but that didn't make them any less competent in carrying out their jobs.

Which was why it was so amusing to a certain orange clad ninja in the middle of team training when a couple of local children near the gate simply vanished into smoke with the two chuunin none the wiser.

* * *

*.*.*.*

* * *

"Hey, Old Man," Kurama said as the elderly Hokage smoked on his pipe and shuffled through stacks of paper. "Why don't you just give us a C-Rank already. We've already suffered through a month and a half of chasing cats and babysitting. We're ready for something bigger."

"Kurama, how dare you!" Iruka yelled immediately, taking respect to the village leader very seriously. "It's not your place to make such demands of the Hokage! Every genin—"

"The loudmouth is right," Sasuke broke in. "We can handle something more serious."

Iruka was ready to have a seizure, his face turning bright red as he prepared to scold both of his former students. Kurama and Sasuke, however, stood their ground, their eyes locked on to that of the village leader without backing down.

The Hokage, however, chuckled. "So, Kurama-kun and Sasuke-kun want to show that they are all grown up now and ready for a serious mission."

At the village leader's affable response, Iruka backed off, letting the wizened God of Shinobi handle his ninja. He was there for mission assignments for rookie genin since as an Academy instructor he knew their capabilities better than most, but when the village leader decided to personally hand out assignments he wouldn't dream of going beyond _his_ place.

"So be it. Since you're so determined, it just so happens that I have C-Rank mission just in today suited to a team like yours. You'll be bodyguards on a journey far from Konoha, protecting a client from any threats they may face for several weeks. How does that sound?"

"Really?!" the pink haired kunoichi shouted, straightening her red dress. "Sasuke-kun and I will be going on a long trip together?"

"You know, Sakura, Kurama and I will be along too," Kakashi said with a sigh.

"Send in our visitor," Hiruzen Sarutobi commanded.

The door opened to reveal a an old drunk man in a dirty grey shirt, drinking heavily from a bottle of rice wine. "Huh? A bunch of snot nosed brats? That's what I'm getting for my money?"

It was Tazuna. The master bridge-builder with a sense of self-importance almost equal to Kurama's own. And the disdain on the man's face and in his voice was difficult to handle as he gave a speech demanding they risk their lives for him.

**Geez. And I thought the guy was obnoxious the first time.**

_I can't agree more. I don't know how I will put up with the man's attitude…and odor._

**Get used to it, Furball. Or you could always let me out and I can deal with him for ya.**

_Forget it, Naruto._

**Anyway, thanks for making sure we got the Wave mission. Using shadow clones to watch for when he came in and went to the mission office was genius. This way we can do things right and save Haku!**

_That pathetic ice bloodline brat? What makes you think my plans have anything to do with saving that fool?_

**Because you promised to protect my precious people, and I know your word means something to you!**

_Ah, but Haku died as an enemy that you had only known for a few minutes. That doesn't exactly count as a precious person, Naruto. Besides, I have my own plans for this trip to Wave Country._

**What do you mean, your own plans? **

**Kurama?...**

**Kurama!**


End file.
